Place: Quiche, Guatemala
Elevation: 7,000 feet
Population: approx. 1 million
My place: a compound that is a part of Agape in Action
Agape in Action: http://www.agapeinaction.org/AIA/Home.html
When we arrived in Quiche around 9:30, Erv and Sally (our hosts) greeted us with some pretty amazing news. Instead of sleeping in our tents in the pouring rain, they were extremely gracious in providing us with rooms in the compound.
The girls were given five rooms with 10 bunk beds, sleeping 20 girls out of 36. The ten boys were given two rooms with 4 bunk beds. Those who weren’t able to sleep on a bed blew up their sleeping pads or hung up their hammocks. We are tremendously grateful to be sleeping in dry rooms and not a drenched soccer field that continues to gain more rain in this monsoon season.
Not only do we have beds, but we have bathrooms as well! In our first month of ministry we are being spoiled. We have showers readily available and actual toilets (except the toilet paper goes in the garbage, not down the drain). Erv and Sally have also provided us with a kitchen to cook our food. Because the entire squad is together for the first month, each team takes a day of the week to cook breakfast and supper for the squad.
Lunch, of course, is on our own since each team has a different ministry. The different ministries include: nursing homes, day care center, orphanage, hospital, and a couple manual labor jobs. For the first couple days, my team was at the orphanage. When we pulled up to the gate of the orphanage, my expectations were blown. I thought this would be a rundown, on the brink of falling apart small house. In reality, this orphanage is one of the nicest homes in Guatemala that I have seen so far. The iron gates led to this:
While there, we cleaned windows and light fixtures. We also tore up old sealant around the windows to replace it with new. At one o’clock the children came home for lunch, so we would spend time with them. Right away they welcomed us with open arms, asking for hugs. One girl, Christina, came up to me and straight out told me she was crazy about God. Who does that? Upon your first encounter with a stranger do you usually tell them that you are in love with Christ? This girl did, and her faith and courage were amazing to witness.
After two days, my team was moved to the school that these children attend. The school recently decided to rent a piece of land that lies adjacent to the school. This piece of land, no bigger than half a football field, will be turned into three classrooms. Our job on day number one was to tear up all of the trees, weeds, and grass. We were given three hoes and three machetes. I have to say it was so cool to cut down a tree with a machete. However, the tools were rough to work with and definitely left us sore. The next day we needed to tear up all the roots from the grass and dig a trench that led to the sewer.
Their root system is a massive tangled wad that is rooted six inches down. When given blunt objects to work with, let me just say it was a process. The third day we uprooted the tree stumps and dug another trench. Then, these past few days we have worked on rebars, helping build the foundation.
I, personally, have found this work extremely rewarding, knowing that we are saving the school money by doing the manual labor as well as providing students with more classrooms in which to grow. Not to mention, it keeps my body active. Unfortunately, my hands are blistered and cracked, but I find it satisfying to be a part of a visual process that leads to something greater.
